When he’s coming up with scorching new sock patterns, Richer Poorer’s whiz-bang designer Joe Tornatzky scours a super-secret list of vintage shops in the nooks of Long Beach, looking to flesh out not only what each pair in a collection will look like but who’s the guy who’d wear it. Here, three looks at how deep that goes. —seth putnam Get you hands (and feet!) on these designs tomorrow! Sign up for our newsletter now. The Mood: “This one’s all about confidence. Stripes are classic, and they’re instilled in American life. They go along with your baseball shirt on the sandlot—and they’ll live on ephemerally.”The Man: “This person is detail-oriented and knows what he wants. He doesn’t like to show off quite as much, and he values humility.” The Mood: “It’s a stripe and a tribal insignia mixed together, so you’ve got a unique sense of timelessness along with an earthy feeling. On a general level, that Southwestern imagery is the direction fashion is going right now. But on a deeper level, I think it symbolizes a return to a more primitive world—a realization that getting stuck in a computer chair is no fun.”The Man: “They’re for someone who’s expressive but likes to live within the restrictions of design. He’s a subtle extrovert who understands the introverted parts of life. It’s all about balance.“ The Mood: “Loud and expressive—they scream, ‘I’m me!’ When we’re designing, we start out with a huge mood board of colors, patterns, and shapes. There’s a page of sock outlines that we’ll sketch ideas into to give it more of a handcrafted element. And as socks go, this design is high-def.”The Man: “These are for the strong-willed guy, the extrovert who goes all the way.”

Tim Morse, one of the creative forces behind everyman sock brand Richer Poorer, might as well have gills—riding the rolling surf near his Laguna Beach hometown comes as naturally to him as breathing. “Our small town—with a population around 25,000—has produced some of the best surfers in the world including Ron Sizemore, Tom Morey, Jeff Booth, Hans Hagen, Jon Rose, and Pat O’Connell,” he notes. Here, Tim gives us the lowdown on where to catch the best waves the next time you find yourself in the Golden State. —seth putnam Brooks Street: “One of my favorite surf spots in town is Brooks Street. The wave breaks in the summer, because of the big south swells that come up from New Zealand, and when the surf is big, Brooks is one of the only places in Laguna that can handle the size. It’s also home to the oldest-running surf contest in the world. When you go, you’ll find friends of all generations checking the surf early in the morning and hooting and hollering at guys as they ride waves from the outer reef all the way to the inside. By night, these stories turn into legend as they’re retold at local watering holes like Adolfo’s Mexican Food or a bar called The Sandpiper.” Agate Street: “This is definitely the locals’ spot, and it’s a dependable beach where you can always find a wave to ride. A bit off the beaten path, there are a couple of fun little reef breaks you can choose from. As a kid in the summer, I’d skateboard down to Agate with a few bucks in my pocket, surf all day, and be home by dark—day-in and day-out for three months straight.” San Onofre: “Just a few minutes south of Laguna is San Onofre, which is a fun place to take the family and spend a day out of town. It’s unique because it backs up against the Camp Pendleton marine base, so there’s no commercial development allowed. It’s one of the last true representations of California before people moved south and everything became mansion-ized. The waves here are a bit more manageable, which makes it a great place to teach kids the basics.” Get on our email list to score Tim’s way-cool Of a Kind edition, coming tomorrow!